Washington, DC — Today, nearly 70 organizations are expressing deep concern about the eruption of state violence in Eswatini. Reports out of Eswatini indicate that, since late June, the army and police forces have killed dozens of unarmed civilians and injured around 1,000 people, including by shooting indiscriminately at and wounding protesters. The government has reportedly imprisoned hundreds of people, many of them young people, and shut down internet access across the country for several weeks, which Amnesty International calls “a brazen violation of the rights to freedom of expression and information.” Reports further indicate that security forces have sought to intimidate human rights defenders and activists with unlawful surveillance, imposed a curfew, and restricted public gatherings and petition deliveries to the government.
In a joint letter addressed to the Government of Eswatini and the international community, the organizations announce their support to “…the demands of civil society organisations, political organisations, and people’s movements within Eswatini calling for a long-term resolution to the current political crisis through an inclusive political dialogue, the total unbanning of political parties, a transitional authority, new democratic Constitution, and a multiparty democratic dispensation.”
The organizations further echo the demands of democracy defenders in calling on the Government of Eswatini to, “cease violence, restore and maintain communications services, and provide urgently needed humanitarian support.”
Read a full copy of the letter.
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